


And In The End

by Marmota



Category: Drake & Josh
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Incest, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Sibling Love, Step-Brothers, Step-Sibling Incest, Step-siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-22 20:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17066717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marmota/pseuds/Marmota
Summary: Mindy thinks a lot about the exact nature of the relationship between Drake and Josh. While she is very rarely wrong about most things in life, she's not sure that she wants to be right this time.





	And In The End

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've ventured into the D&J fandom, but I still love these two with all my heart.
> 
> Written for FFA's Post 1000 Prompt and Fill Fest!

If Mindy had to pick just one word to describe the relationship between Drake and Josh, it would be without a doubt 'unique'. Circumstance alone had brought them together as step brothers and surely two people that were so different wouldn’t have become friends, let alone best friends, unless the marriage of their parents hadn’t forced them into each others lives? And yet, as she sat across from them both at the table they were sharing at The Premiere, it was hard for Mindy to imagine a reality in which the two of them _weren’t_ attached at the hip, regardless of them being step brothers or not. They were so intensely drawn to each other, Mindy would bet every last dollar of her father’s salmon fortune, that in each parallel universe where both boys existed at the same time, they would end up in each others’ orbit eventually.

If Mindy were permitted instead to describe their relationship using more than just one word, she would liken them to a pair of entangled particles: Drake could not be described in his entirety without also describing Josh. No matter if Drake and his band were touring on the other side of the country, thousands of miles away from where Josh studied at college, they still could only ever be described as a set. They were 'Drake and Josh'. Two halves of a whole.

But perhaps she was thinking too deeply about this.

She watched intently as the boys across from her engaged in animated conversation, so animated on Josh’s part in fact, that he’d somehow managed to gesticulate in such a way that he had smeared ketchup on his left cheek. Mindy raised her eyebrows when Drake wasted no time in swiping the condiment off his brother’s face and immediately popping the same finger into his mouth, sucking it clean. Drake did this 'eating things off Josh’s face' thing a lot, Mindy noticed, and each time Josh’s reaction was a distinct _non_ reaction. He only gave Drake a quick glance before saying, “Dude, you don’t even like ketchup,” to which Drake responded with a shrug.

"People change, Josh,” he said with a lazy grin. Josh only rolled his eyes at that before promptly continuing his story, a story Mindy had long since stopped listening to in favour of watching the brothers’ much more fascinating interactions instead. It was like they were completely unaware that she was still sitting with them. It should have bothered her more really, as this was technically supposed to be a date between her and Josh. She should have known better by now that wherever Josh went, Drake was not far behind. Though she could never truly hate Drake (she liked to think that both her and Drake had matured since graduating high school) Mindy couldn’t deny that she still resented him a little for taking up so much of Josh’s time and attention, whether intentional on Drake’s part or not. Even now the residual bitterness kept her from calling this a 'friend-date' as opposed to a 'date-date' that she wished it could be. Her and Josh had long since broken up, but Mindy was determined that their friendship should prevail, no matter how much a friendship with Josh was just as much a friendship with Drake by proxy.

It _should_ have bothered her more, but it didn’t. And _that_ bothered her. It bothered her that she had become just like everyone else in Belleview in that she had grown so used to the unusual closeness of the brothers, she almost accepted it as the norm. When she took an objective step back however, the objective step in this case being leaving her hometown to pursue her college career three states over, the uniqueness of their relationship was thrown into sharp relief. Thanksgiving at the Parker-Nicols household during hers and Josh’s first year at college had been… an experience.

She had arrived earlier than planned on Josh’s doorstep, already feeling nervous about the prospect of seeing her boyfriend for the first time in months. The feeling of unease only worsened when it had been Megan, not Josh, who had answered the door.

“Hey,” Megan had said, regarding her with a cool stare that gave nothing away aside from the standard teenage sullenness that would be expected of a fourteen-year-old.

“Hi,” Mindy had replied with a strained smile. She never knew where she stood with Megan, but she suspected that’s how most people felt in the youngest Parker’s presence. “Is Josh here?”

It was then that she had heard the excited shrieks and yells coming from the direction of the living room. Megan had given an exasperated sigh and gestured over her shoulder.

“Boobing it up as usual,” she’d said, before stalking upstairs, presumably to her room, leaving Mindy alone to ponder what on Earth 'boobing it up' could possibly mean and whether she should be concerned or not.

As Mindy had stepped over the threshold, it was clear to her what must have happened. Drake had beaten her to the punch once again. He had arrived from LA mere moments before her and was engaged in a fierce wrestle-cuddle-battle on the living room floor with his step brother. Drake’s guitar case and his other assorted luggage had been scattered unceremoniously around them both and from that it was easy for Mindy to conjure up the image of an excitable Drake bursting through the front door and leaping into his brother’s arms with a triumphant “Hug me brotha!”, his suitcases becoming a mere afterthought as they were launched haphazardly into the air.

She hadn't announced herself, only taken a few steps forward as she'd closed the door behind her, watching them quietly as they kept wrestling and laughing, oblivious to her arrival. Eventually they had tired themselves out and the way they had been wrapped up in each other on the floor seemed to Mindy to be nothing less than intimate. Mindy herself had a brother and she could never imagine holding and looking at her sibling in the way Josh looked at Drake in that moment. She had felt as though she was intruding on something private, when all it should have been was two siblings reuniting after weeks of being apart. Josh looked like he'd wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, he had brushed back the hair that had fallen into Drake’s eyes, saying softly, “Your hair is longer.” 

To Drake, this appeared to mean something else entirely, as he had then smiled in a way Mindy had never seen before or since.

“Yeah I missed you too,” Drake had said and Mindy recalled the way that her heart had leapt into her throat as Drake had leaned forward and planted a firm kiss to Josh’s cheek, half an inch shy of the corner of his mouth. It was something she had suspected they engaged in, but had never before seen in practice. She'd felt frozen in place as Drake had grinned and helped pull Josh to his feet.

“C’mon," he'd said. "Help me carry my stuff up to our room.”

It was only when they had turned towards the stairs, that they finally spotted her. Mindy remembered the way that Drake’s face, so open and expressive a few seconds before, became closed off to her, a stark contrast to Josh who had still looked happy - completely unfazed at the possibility that Mindy might have seen their little moment. Whether this meant he'd had no idea what she had just witnessed, or just didn't care, Mindy wasn't sure which scenario she liked least.

In that moment, as Josh was hugging her, she knew she was going to break up with him. And it hurt. But something was missing in the warmth of his embrace - as though he wasn’t quite there with her. It was like some part of him would always be with Drake - a part that she would never get to see. And Mindy knew, that if she was going to be with Josh at all, she wanted all of him.

And so they had broken up a week later. He’d been upset, but amicable once she had explained that the long distance was too much for her. All lies of course, but she had a feeling that “I’m breaking up with you because I strongly suspect that you’re in love with your step brother” wouldn’t have gone down too well.

Because really, that’s what it was. Or maybe it was just a deep sibling love that she could never understand and _she_ was in the wrong for thinking otherwise, but it didn’t stop the thought from dominating her mind whenever she was in the same room as the pair. Since that fateful Thanksgiving, all the little things about the brothers’ relationship that she had become accustomed to, were now thrown into a vibrant, hyper-focus: the lingering touches, the long, drawn out hugs, the hugs that became snuggles, the brushing aside or ruffling of each others hair, the small smiles, the kisses, the _multiple_ kisses, the looks exchanged that spoke volumes, but in a language only the two of them could understand.

They were doing it now.

Drake had gone quiet, seemingly content to just smile and listen to Josh’s voice wash over him. Mindy wondered if Drake would have done better in school if he had given his teachers the same amount of undivided attention that he gave to his brother when he spoke. At some point in the conversation, Drake had grasped Josh’s arm in enthusiasm and had forgotten to let go, or was unwilling to. Mindy watched as Drake’s grip gradually loosened, but his fingertips still stroked invisible patterns onto Josh’s skin, in the same manner as he would if he were strumming out a melody on his guitar.

If it was true that Josh was indeed in love with Drake, the feeling had to be mutual, Mindy concluded. Her heart ached.

“Josh?” Drake's voice then filtered through her inner musings; soft, quiet and very much unlike him. Josh stopped talking and looked at him.

“What?” Josh said after a few moments of silently studying Drake’s face. It was a single word, but something in Mindy’s gut told her that Drake had heard so much more. She watched as Drake glanced down at where his hand was still resting on Josh's arm and licked his lips. Then he turned his gaze instead towards Mindy and suddenly she existed in their world once more. His eyes were earnest, unguarded and for the first time since she had known him, she understood how others could become so taken with him. He was pleading, _begging_ her to realise what he could not put into words.

_He needs me to leave._

She couldn't explain how she knew it was the right thing to do, but she did it anyway. Josh said nothing as he watched her get up from their table and excuse herself, but when she met his eyes, they were full of apology and a gratefulness so endearing that she could forgive him completely for it.

Mindy walked away, chancing a quick look back at the pair as she made her way towards The Premiere's exit. Their heads were inclined towards each other, voices low and indistinct as Josh put an arm around Drake's shoulders, pulling him closer and stroking the exposed, freckled skin of Drake's upper arm.

Maybe it didn't matter what kind of love they shared, Mindy thought as she turned away from them. As flawed as Drake was, as flawed as _both_ of them were, she couldn't with good conscience say that their love for each other wasn't important. Whether they knew it or not, they were both the best thing to ever happen to each other. With every gentle smile that passed between them and each tender love song that left the strings of Drake’s guitar, it was clear to see that Josh loved someone that loved him back unconditionally.

And in the end, that was all she had ever wanted for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always welcome! Thank you for reading.


End file.
